Senseless Records is a bass music label founded in Leeds, now based in London but with an international outlook. They sum up the music they release as "the spirit of rave past, present and future". DeVille, one of the co-owners, explains all...

When did your label begin & why was it set up?

The label started in Leeds in 2004 with a self-funded white label from Sarantis featuring a Leeds MC called Taurus. It got played on 1Xtra and Channel U and those kinds of places and it went from there. The whole thing grew out of soundsystem culture - there's a lot of it in Leeds - from inspirations like Iration Steppas to systems like High Pressure, who Senseless cut their first tunes for. Things really kicked off with the Warrior Queen track which got played all over the place. Skream, Mary Anne Hobbs, Appleblim and lots of other peeps were on that one and we got distribution on the back of it.

Eleven vinyl releases and two CDs later we're still going strong, and I think putting out the best and most exciting music to date. Initially the label was set up to release our own music, because we felt separated from the London scene. Now we live in London and put out other people's music so I guess we've either succeeded or betrayed our ideals, can't decide.

Who is involved with running it?

Me and Sasquatch (Liam) run the label, mainly out of his studio in North London. Sarantis was one of the original founders of the label but doesn't do so much day-to-day stuff. Let's call him a very silent partner, that makes him sound dead though, he's not dead.

What other labels, new or old, have inspired you?

I find XL a big inspiration, I like the fact they came from hardcore and The Prodigy to being the diverse label they are now. Warp as well has managed to stay relevant for over 20 years, as has Ninja. Planet Mu has managed to release consistently interesting music and move with the times. I've always respected Rough Trade as well, for what they did back in the 80s and now. Factory for their commitment to artwork over profit.

Just to randomly name check some others: Hyperdub, Mad Decent, Tempa, Locked On, Stones Throw, Ghostly, K7 are all in there. Digging a bit further back I'd have to say jungle labels like V Recordings, Moving Shadow and Suburban Bass because they inspired me so much when I was younger.

Tell us more about your key artists...

The three people who run the label also produce so we've always released some of our own music alongside other people's either as originals or remixes. This year we've had our biggest expansion in terms of new artists though; we have Ghosttown, an incredible future hip hop producer who's worked with Foreign Beggars, Dudley Perkins, Frank and Dank and loads of other people in the past but now we're helping him go solo.

We also have a new discovery in Cheasleauen, a female MC from Las Vegas who's got serious mic skills, she sounds like Lil Kim meets Spankrock. Kanji Kinetic has done his first full release for us too, heavy hitting turbo rave kind of business.

Coming up there's Pocz and Pacheko, two Venezuelan guys who make amazing music that fuses UK bass with with tribal South American influences, I went out there and did a show with them this year which was an incredible experience.

Then there's Maga Bo, probably our most established artist to date who makes psychedelic electronic music fused with international found sounds and influences he picks up on his world travels, an enviable life. Then there's The Phantom from Poland, an EP of remixes from Mali, oh and Max Romeo, the legendary reggae vocalist who we met and recorded with in a shed in North London.

What do you look for in potential artists?

A sense of the experimental whilst still maintaining an ear for what works on the dancefloor. An awareness of how to promote your music is useful, labels can't necessarily do it all. It also helps if you aren't a complete fool, hanging out is part of the fun. Also although we're very open, it helps if an artist has a feel for what we put out, we get sent some weird stuff.

How would you describe your label's sound?

We sum it up as technicolour international bass music. It has to have bass and not be too fixed in one scene, increasingly we're finding it will have international influences too. We like music that works at the margins and mixes elements together to come up with something new. Also we like vocals, hence the CDs last year. Apart from that we're very open to new sounds, hopefully that's reflected in out releases. Up until now we've mostly been a dancefloor label but we have a few potential releases coming up for the iPod as well as the club.

Aside from that the label's main inspiration is 'rave' and by 'rave' we mean proper raves. Sasquatch works as part of a crew called New World Disorder putting on warehouse parties in London and big outdoor free parties all over Europe.

We also play at a lot of free parties organised by loads of crews around London including Enjoy Kaos, Disjunkt, Hekate and Underkonstuction. Playing and being involved in these events is how the label started out and is still what we get the biggest buzz from. Underground parties are just fun to play at because they are free from the limitations on the mainstream club scene, half the people aren't outside smoking for a start! It also means the sound gets played to people who don't care about names and status but just want to dance. I think Sasquatch would see this as an important thing to mention, keep the rave alive!

What have been your biggest releases to date?

Difficult to say, depends how you measure, but the More Than Money EP by Sarantis and Warrior Queen has been our biggest selling release, and the Starkey remix was one of the biggest of 2009. Early on as well we released the debut from Jack Sparrow which was really popular.

Our biggest in terms of effort were the Vocals and Versions CDs, with a total of 30 tracks between them and some amazing names. In terms of DJ response it would have to be the Ghosttown release with Badness this year. I'm also so quite confident both the Kanji release, which just came out and the Pocz and Pacheko ones will do really well too. Probably jinxed them by saying that haven't I?

What do you have coming out soon?

The bass-rave monster that is Kanji Kinetic's Zombiezz EP just came out with remixes from Cracks, Kaiser and Johnny Sideways. Then comes Pocz and Pacheko's UK bass meets Kuduro Zarbak with remixes from Brackles and Mr Gasparov. In the summer we're really excited to be releasing a set of remixes of Max Romeo, the reggae legend, with versions from Rossi B and Luca, Stagga, Pacheko, Deville and Sasquatch.  

After that comes something different from Maga Bo, recorded in Ethiopia (we're also working on a possible DVD of him in Ethiopia recording and performing) with remixes by Timeblind, African Dope, Filastine, Pacheko and a few more. Then we have an EP from The Phantom, and exciting producer making forward-thinking UK funky in Poland, with some excellent remixes. An EP of vocals from Mali, with some amazing remixes I have to keep under wraps for now. Then more from Ghosttown, who's been working with Badness, YT, Killa P and Warrior Queen and something else from Cheasleauen.

Anything else you want to tell us about?

We're increasingly taking a really active interest in our label artwork, every EP now is being designed by an artist from around the world and we're working out how to start being able to offer prints either for sale or packaged with the releases, so look out for that.

Kanji Kinetic - New Era by Senseless Records

Related Links:

• Senseless Launch Synesthesia Art Project
• Japanese Dubstep: Hyaku-mado
• Sean Scully Art Exhibition
• Old Skool Classic: Messiah - There Is No Law
• Bangerang Promoter Profile

Like it? Share it!
Sign up for more with the Kmag weekly newsletter.